1.   But so long as they remain in the congressional minority, the Democrats have only limited power to block Bush nominees.

2.   Democrats left little doubt that they stand ready to block nominees for lifetime appointment to the federal bench who hold views similar to Ashcroft.

3.   He singled out for criticism Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., whom the president blamed for blocking his nominees.

4.   In most cases, senators are now able to block nominees only for U.S. District Courts, which conduct trials, in their home states.

5.   Not only were Democrats blocking the nominees of a Democratic president, but White House officials were sympathetic to their strategy.

6.   Should Clinton decide to try to replace Greenspan anyway, there would be little downside risk for the Republicans in blocking his nominee.

7.   Still, any senator can single-handedly block a nominee.

8.   The disagreement has also been over a custom in which senators can sometimes block nominees for judgeships from their home states from being considered by the committee.

9.   The goal is not only to block specific nominees but to intimidate the president and the entire judicial branch.

10.   The White House charged that the nominee had been blocked by Republicans playing politics.